Consequences of high mileage

Up till now, my increase in running has been nicely offset by my weekly yoga and regular stretching.  I have finally hit the point, however, where this is no longer true.   

This week my legs have been stiff and tight.  I was sore on Sunday, but by Monday that was better.  I figured Yoga on Monday evening would loosen up my lower body, but not really.  It helped, but even 90 minutes of yoga did not leave me feeling loose and flexible. 

Tuesday’s 5 mile run, my legs were still very stiff.  They never really loosened up.  Today’s 9miles were better, but it took longer into the run for my legs to loosen up than it should have.  This is not good. 

So, as a result, I am stepping up my stretching!  I spent about 30 minutes this evening doing yoga stretches targeting the legs and hips in some way or another.  I need to remember to stretch most days in these weeks leading up to the marathon.

18 miles…

Written Monday

I admit I was intimidated by the concept of running 18 miles.  After really struggling towards the end of 16 miles, I was afraid I was hitting a point where my body really didn’t want to keep adding miles.  I don’t know what caused that 16 miles to be so exhausting at the end, but Saturday’s 18 miles felt better in many ways.

It was not easy to run 18 miles.  There were times my joints started to get tired and protest a bit that we were still running.  There were some hills that seemed to never end and made me question if I’d make it through the run.  A few times I was simply tired of still running.  In the last mile, however, we kicked up the pace and finished really strong.  There was something really empowering and amazing about having run for so long, and having  really tired legs, but still having enough left to pick up the pace and feel good in that last mile!   Good sign for marathon success?  I hope so.

Philosophical running...

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one."
                                         --Mark Twain

"Obstacles are those frightening things that become visible when we take our eyes off our goals."
                                            --Henry Ford

I was pondering these two quotes on my never ending 9 mile run on the treadmill this morning.  Never run 9 miles on the treadmill if you can avoid it.  It’s boring!  Even listing to a book couldn’t keep me entertained. 

These two quotes really speak to how my marathon training has worked.  So many people ask me “how do you run that far?” in reference to whatever long run I just completed. Or, “I could never run that far!” 

While I completely understand that sentiment, having probably said the same things myself, training for this marathon has simply been about setting a goal and breaking it down into manageable parts.  Well, that and dedication to the goal and making training a priority.  Any given week is challenging, but doable for my fitness level.  The increase in distance from week to week is logical and within reach from the last distance.  Each mile I run is a step towards my body being able to run the marathon.  If I think about 26.2 miles is still a scary distance for me to think about running, but I know my training schedule has been leading me towards that distance from the beginning.  When you think of training as just adding a mile or two from a previous week, it is much less scary then thinking about an 18 mile run as a separate concept by itself.  It’s all about manageable steps towards a crazy goal. And then hopefully the crazy will become one more extra big step and be achievable…

16 mile adventure

Saturday’s run was the first run in a few weeks with the sun out.  It was a nice change from all the cloudy dreariness.  The run, however, turned out to be much more of an obstacle course than I was mentally prepared for. 

We ran on the Mt. Vernon trail starting at Roosevelt Island running to Old Town Alexandria and back.  First the hills…I’ve run on this trail before, but not as far and there were way more rolling hills than I thought there would be.  Then the turns…This trail gets pretty windy in places, including some nice switchbacks.  All the rain last week meant lots of puddles and mud to try and dodge.  Once we got down by the river, the trail is unpaved for a bit and that part was definitely a bit worse off from all the rain.  There was lots of “puddle jump!”  Somewhere around 12 miles I was ready to be done.  Somewhere around 14 miles the Aussie cursing came out when we got to yet another lovely rolling hill.  I was so completely ready to stop running when we hit mile 16.

But, all and all, it was a 16 mile adventure which we still managed to complete in 2:50.  Not bad!

15 miles. 3 counties.

Saturdays run set a new running record for me!  My first 15 miles ever!  We ran on the W&OD trail starting in Shirlington (Arlington county), ran through The City of Falls Church, and then into Fairfax county.  Once we hit Fairfax the trail had some nice rolling hills to work my legs even more.  There are definitely hills earlier along our route, but also a good amount of flat trail.  We completed 15 miles, with a quick bathroom stop, in 2:44!  I am definitely happy with that. 

The last 2 miles took concentration, and my legs definitely felt tired.  I developed a mantra to help me along.  “Go go go!  Run run run!”  Each footfall got a word.  It kept me entertained.  Even though my legs were the most tired they have been yet, I still felt like I finished with some reserves left. 

The run was a great start to an awesome weekend.  Mike and Kevin were visiting, and it was so fun to spend the weekend with them!  Of course, I further exhausted my legs by walking around Saturday afternoon to brunch; to the MLK Jr. monument; to dinner.  By the end of the day my legs were completely exhausted, but it was worth it!!  We made sure to do something yesterday that did not involve a lot of walking to give my legs a break.  I love a Sunday afternoon at a vineyard J

I am seriously in awe of running 15 miles.  I remember working up to my first 5K this time 2 years ago.  Running 3.1 miles seemed like such an impressive accomplishment to me, especially since I never thought I could be a runner.  Now I just ran about 5 times that…life is crazy!

Pondering more miles...

Tomorrow’s run marks a pivotal point in my training.  This will be the first long run that ventures into completely untried mileage.  Even though 15 miles is only 2 more than 13, it somehow seems much more intimidating. 

I know I need to trust in my training.  So far, my training plan has gotten me through almost 10 weeks of training in great shape.  There’s no reason why all of a sudden another step up in mileage will be any different, but even so, it feels like a bigger jump.  I’m in to the mileage that will determine if I like marathons or would rather just stick with halves.  These runs will start taking more out of me as they get longer, leading up to the longest training run of 20 miles the second week of October.

There are only 8 weeks left to the marathon and that in and of itself is a bit nerve racking.  8 weeks is less than 2 months.  October 30 is next month, as the MCM Facebook page reminded me yesterday.  All of this makes the race more real, more exciting, and allot scarier.